Apple Trails Samsung in Smartphone Production

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• Samsung’s share of the smartphone market was about 20% in the first quarter.
• That compared to a little more than 16% for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ AAPL) recently announced artificial intelligence (AI) services that will be available on iPhones. This is likely to help iPhone 16 production later in the year. However, the U.S. company trails Samsung, its largest rival, in production. A surge in Apple production will be needed to close the gap.

According to TrendForce, the industry posted a strong 18.7% year-over-year growth in the first quarter, with a total shipment of 296 million units. Six manufacturers dominated the production market share: Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, Transsion, and Vivo. They accounted for nearly 80% of the total figure.

What the Numbers Show

First-quarter smartphone production.

Samsung’s production rose 11.2% in the period to 59.5 million. This gave it a total market share of 20.1%. According to TrendForce, a new Samsung product helped its numbers. “The Galaxy S24 series—benefiting from the hype for AI—accounted for 22.5% of the first quarter’s production, reflecting a 20% increase compared to last year’s Galaxy S23 series.”

Apple’s market share dropped 39% in the first quarter, as production fell to 47.9 million. This pushed its market share down to 16.2%. TrendForce said low sales in China were the primary reason for the decline.

The numbers also showed the strength of China-based companies. However, most of their units are sold in China. Xiaomi’s production reached 41.1 million. That was a decrease of 4.6% to a market share of 13.9%. Apple’s China challenge is based largely on besting local manufacturers.

Apple will not launch a new iPhone until September. That means its production figures in the second quarter of this year will not be strong. However, production needs to jump in the third quarter, when Apple hits the market with its first AI-driven smartphone product.

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